Father & Son in "Cab to Cab" Chat — Russ Flora, at
the helm of his 1917 20-40 Case Tractor chats with son, Bruce, at
wheel of the 20-30 Rumely Oil-Pull at Darke County Threshers,
Greenville, Ohio.

Sometimes the Spark Plug of the Month is a many-faceted
personality — comprising of such strange admixtures as early
boyhood impressions of Granddad's steam threshin' rig,
modern engineering trends and piloting one's own plane. To
which add generous proportions of religious and civic
responsibility to one's own community as well as a hitch at
army life in the service of one's country.

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"It all started when, as a kid, I used to sit on my
grandfather, Ed. Hollinger's big Baker Engine and watch the
wheels go 'round while he was threshing," reminisces Russ
Flora from over Tipp City, Ohio-way.

Somehow the mighty impressions of the barking stack and
reciprocating piston and valve-gear, the wail of the steam whistle
and rhythm of that vibrating, pulsating engine deck carved
unforgettable memories in a little boy's mind — as if any man
today who once sat on Grandpa's engine could ever forget.

Of course there followed the usual routine of a boy growing up
into young manhood, graduating from high school and going off to
college, such as the College of Engineering at Ohio State
University where, for young Russ Flora, Grandpa's old-fashioned
ideas of steam threshin' lent solid foundation for an eye to
the future.

Came the usual hitch in Uncle Sam's army, and, following
right on the heels of that, burst the sudden necessity of mustering
the total experience into the forging of one's destiny back in
the home society.

But, instead of working out that destiny at the farm home of his
parents in Troy, Ohio, the enterprising Russell Flora, Jr. ventured
to the neighboring town of Tipp City where, for the past eleven
years he has climbed from Project Engineer and Vice President of
Engineering to Vice President of Production and Director of The
Process Equipment Company.

Though his much traveling for the concern necessitated the
acquiring of a personal airplane, and the license to pilot it, Russ
Flora had not forgotten those indelible memories of the big engines
and pulsating power, the flopping of the big leather belt that set
the grain-separator to whirring and the saw-blade to whining.

"It was during this time, several years ago, that Milton
Deets of Dayton, Ohio, (likewise a Spark Plug of note), invited my
boys and me to attend the Darke County Steam Threshers Show, then
being held at Mechanicsburg, Ohio," explains Russ.

"When my eyes first saw that big 20-40 Case Gas Tractor,
things began stirring in my veins," muses Russ Flora, a
nostalgic glint in his eye. It was an old one — built back in
1917. The mighty chug of its big cylinders, the whirr of the
belt-wheel, the smell of heavy oil and exhaust fetched out the
'goose-pimples' on even the young ex-soldier and modern
engineer, recently become fledgling pilot.

Would there be room and time enough in a flying engineer's
life and mind for such as a lumbering old Case Gas Tractor, vintage
1917 ? And what might the wife have to say, should such a
huge contraption come lumbering up the country lane with hubby at
the controls? Or what admonishments might be portending from the
church fathers of the Brethren Congregation where young Russell
Flora presides as spiritual Moderator?

But, after all, wives and church fathers disregarded, did not
some philosopher of old say, "Chickens always run back to the
side of the road where they were hatched?"

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And, true to philosophy about both chicks and men, Russ Flora
found himself already back on the childhood side of life's road
the moment he gawked at that grinding, chugging Case Gas
Tractor.

Before he left the grounds at Mechanicsburg, that day, he made
it a point to talk to Dave Wood of Catawba, Ohio, who owned
"the thing".

"After we got the machine home, we rebuilt the engine,
cleaned and painted it," says Flora with a spark plug of
victory in his eye.

At last Russell Flora had the one ambition of his boyhood
finally come true — that of actually owning a big antique gas
tractor. Even his wife, yes and the church fathers, seemed
satisfied that he had reached the ultimate of his passion — and
would stray no more.

But one has wisely said that the collecting of things, be it
clocks, Indian arrow-heads, buttons or baubles, is worse than a
disease — for at least one can be cured of a disease but not of
collecting. (I should know with twenty-five clocks all ticking and
striking, both off-beat and on-beat, in tune and out-of-tune, about
me,)

For a while it was "back to the drawing-board" for Russ
Flora and business as usual, showing folks that he wasn't going
to spend his days doting on his newly-acquired prize.

But drawing-board or no drawing board — Russ felt mighty bored
(spelled differently) with only one antique gas tractor — even if
it was a 20-40 Case. After all, getting the big Case was just
tantamount to getting bit by the bug for the first
time.

Soon he was rumbling up the country lane with an odd-ball
three-wheeled Ideal tractor, powered by a four-cylinder engine and
steered and clutched by two levers. Boy, was he in class now! But,
then again, what might the Missus say — not to mention the church
fathers of such earthly foibles?

"I bought that old Ideal of Mr. M. H. Link of Loveland,
Ohio," says Flora. "He didn't know the year it was
built in Lansing, Mich., but a number of engine men tell me it
could date from 1919 to 1923."

And now a third tractor — a 20-30 Rumely Oil-Pull — came
rumbling one day up the Russ Flora country lane. The already
resigned better-half didn't bother to raise an eye-brow this
time. After all she thought it safer for Russell than flying an
airplane far a field. And the church fathers had long ago resigned
Russell Flora to his chosen earthly doom.

"The boys can drive this, while I run the Case at the
reunions," explained Russ to his wilted spouse.

From thence the "disease" spread to the collecting of a
few odd-ball antique gas stationary engines — the most unusual of
which is a 6-horse-power, two-cycle Bessemer which Russ and his
boys, Bruce and Tom, have rehabilitated like new.

Says Russ Flora, "The only trouble is that the time I spend
in my regular work and fooling around these old engines, I
don't have as much time to fly as I'd like to."

Replies Mrs. Flora, "I'd rather see him work at these
things on the ground than being 'up there'."

It's indeed a reassuring sight to see Dad Flora chugging
around on some midwestern steam engine reunion at the helm of his
big 1917 Case while son, Bruce or Tom, rumbles by on the
"li'l ol' " 20-30 Rumely Oil-Pull.

And now that the church fathers of Russ Flora's Brethren
congregation have apparently left off with pointing the finger of
impending doom at their Moderator, for enjoying such earthly
foibles as collecting old gas tractors, we might wonder what ye
editor, Preacher-Elmer might offer in the way of a few words of
spiritual redemption lest others be "unchurched" for doing
the same thing.

Could the preacher-editor comfort some of the rest of us who
daily gather in such unholy objects to satiate the appetites of the
ungodly, world without end? AMEN!

A familiar scene at Taylor, Wisconsin 54659 on, or about, Labor
Day each year. This is our seventh year of threshing oats at the
annual Old Time Festival and Fiesta. Mr. Joe Olson operates the
engine ("Casey" 36 H.P. Roadroller) and Bert "Boss"
Skaar is making his 42nd consecutive fall as separator man in
Wisconsin. The machinery belongs to Wilbur A. Skaar so it is very
much a Community Day Old Time Get-Together for the. entire
neighborhood. Everyone enjoys pitching in and helping. The
separator is a nice 28 feet by 46 feet Huber Supreme.

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